The
New York Times co-Social Media Editor Liz Heron thinks
that her position at the Times is a transitional one,
and may not even exist in five years, according to a post
at Nieman Journalism Lab. As newsroom practices evolve,
integrating social media into daily activities will
become more of a team effort.

As
she noted, social media is a disruptive influence on the
news media today, and is not yet universally embraced.
As the media becomes more mainstream and adopted by most
journalists, the need for an advocate will subside.

In
fact, according to the post, Jim Long of NBC believes
that in the future, having a social media editor will
make as much sense as having a phone consultant. In
other words, the position will be redundant and
unnecessary.

The
integration of social media into the news cycle is
another example of how traditional and digital media is
morphing into a universal medium. A balanced approach to
the media that includes traditional story pitching,
building media relationships with both journalists and
bloggers, and building respect and trust with all media
members is essential to building a corporate
communications strategy today.